Rusty Rubin, Managing Editor
www.ringsports.com

Saturdays big fight from San Antonio, on HBO, features Marco Antonio Barrera against hard punching Manny Pacquaio.

It’s not an easy fight to pick, because Pacquaio, of the Philippines is one of the hardest one-punch bangers around, and even moving up in weight against a very tough foe, doesn’t negate him having a punchers chance.

But because of the opposition, Barrera, who sports a great chin, we have to go with Marco to out-box and stop Pacquaio late in the fight.***

John Ruiz says he’s angry at Roy Jones Jr. and I have to wonder if the real reason isn’t that he was embarrassed by a light heavyweight, rather then his opinion that Jones took the lions share of the purse and didn’t help with the promotion as, according to Ruiz, he was supposed to do.

I know Ruiz has been coming off some personal problems including a divorce. And I respect Ruiz as a person and a competitor. But I have never given any respect to the title the WBA bestowed on him by making him a top contender.

John Ruiz may be many things, but he’s not a heavyweight champion caliber fighter. In truth, I have a hard time considering him as one of the top 10 heavyweights in the world. Heck, I’d probably wouldn’t have him ranked in the top 10 heavys in America.

This is not intended to be disrespectful, as Ruiz is a good ‘club’ fighter, but little more. He lucked out that by some miracle (or other means) the WBA rated him their top contender when Lewis gave up that belt.

Now Ruiz gets another chance so to speak as he fights Hasim Rahman for the opportunity for a rematch with Jones for the WBA bauble.

In all honesty, how many people will pay to see (or even watch for free) Ruiz fight Jones again? I’ll take a pass on it, and I’m sure most knowledgeable fight fans will also.

In reality, however, Jones says he has no interest in fighting anyone but Mike Tyson. And Tyson, although over the hill, can still punch and Jones didn’t show a lot of mobility in his fight with Tarver.

Of course that could be from the rapid weight loss to come down to the 175 lb. weight, or it could come from getting a bit older, as we all must do. And Tyson has shown no interest in fighting anyone connected with Don King, as Jones is at the moment.

What’s left for Roy? I’ll tell you the match-up I’d like to see. Jones vs. Toney at cruiserweight.

Agree or disagree, I’d like to hear from you.

Glove2Glove:

Please say prayers for former top-notch fighter Art Soto, who is having some severe health problems from Alzheimer’s and cancer.

Say a prayer for the return to health of great boxer Mando Ramos, who is badly hurting, a result of an unsuccessful back surgery.

Please say prayers for Phill Grazide of Santa Rosa, CA. a big supporter of amateur boxing, who is suffering the crippling effects of rheumatoid arthritis.

Chas. Shandor, father in law of Ringsports.com writer Nick Constantine has been diagnosed with cancer and needs your prayers.

Your prayers have worked and Martin Sommers is no longer in hospice care, and in fact, is at home recovering. He and his family pass along their heartfelt thanks, and ask that your prayers continue.

Also down but not out with cancer is Kathy Ceravola, sister of top referee Elmo Adolph, and my best friend and co-founder of Glove2Glove, Susiey Walker.
Needless to say we need prayers for the return to health of both former champs Greg Page and Gerald McClellan, both confined to wheelchairs.

Glove2Glove is a non-denominational group set up to aide those boxing folks and their relatives in need of prayers and cards. We accept no money and only contact our members when someone is in need. It’s free to join. Simply send us your e-mail address. And even if you’re not a member, feel free to contact us if you are aware of some boxing person in need.

Touching on politics briefly:

It’s nice to know that the Saudi’s are at least talking about joining forces with others against Al Qaeda. How many innocent lives have to be lost in order for people to realize what has been obvious all along? That it’s them against us.

It would also be very nice if other countries in the world realized that simple fact and acted in unison to defeat the common enemy.

Instead we have Japan and other countries that had previously committed to peace keeping in Iraq backing down. Can’t blame any country for not wanting to risk their personnel in that conflict.

After all, Iraq didn’t attack nor was ever perceived as a threat to them. And come to think of it, they didn’t attack or threaten Americans either.

I’ve questioned our commitment to Iraq for a while now. But wasn’t our mission to get rid of Sadaam, not to rebuild the entire infrastructure? I sure don’t remember that being one of our stated goals going in.

But even if it was, there is still two common enemy for everyone and that is Al Qaeda and the Taliban who want to impose their ways on the rest of the world. And it will be interesting in how many countries are willing to give up and fight these terrorists without a whimper. My guess is start and finish at zero.

The point being that we have to stop these madmen now, before they acquire weapons that will make them stronger and much harder to stop in the future. To coin a phrase, ‘the future is now’.

Agree or disagree, all responses are welcome and the best will be published.